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Weddings
Getting Married in St Andrew's Barnston or St Mary's Great Dunmow
Introduction
We are delighted that you are thinking about being married in one of our historic parish churches. We think our churches are lovely settings for a Marriage Service.
Throughout the time before your wedding day Canon David Ainge and the Rev. Philip Tarris (contact details below) are available to discuss any details that may be of concern to you.
So can you legally get married here?
If you live in the Church of England Parish of Great Dunmow or Barnston, and have not been married before with your former spouse still alive, you have the right to request to be married here by virtue of your residency.
If you live elsewhere, but have specific historic links with Great Dunmow or Barnston, then you may have the necessary qualifying connections that allow you to request to be married here. We will happily advise you about this when you call. However, you may be asked to provide documentary evidence in support of your claim to have a qualifying connection.
What if we don't live in the parish, and have no qualifying connection?
There are two ways in which someone in such a position may make it possible to be married in one or other of our churches - provided one of you has already been baptised. The first is to join our Church Electoral Roll, for which regular attendance at church for 6 months is one of the requirements. The second is to obtain a Marriage Licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury's legal department. This all sounds very complicated. Not to worry, there is help readily at hand when you make an enquiry at The Vicarage.
What if either party has been divorced?
We are able to offer a Service of Blessing after a Civil Marriage. This celebratory Service uses about 80% of the Order of a Wedding Service. The only parts omitted are the legal bits, and that is because the Marriage Ceremony will have already been conducted at a civil Register Office. The couple and their families and friends will come to church for a Service that involves wedding music, hymns, readings, renewal of wedding vows and prayers. A fuller explanation will be given at the Vicarage, so if this applies to you, please contact the Vicar.
Which church would you like to use?
Our two parish churches are both readily available for weddings.
St Andrew's, Barnston is the smaller of the two, and can accommodate up to 80 people very easily. However, it has no choir of its own, nor wedding bells. What it loses in those facilities, it gains in intimacy for smaller wedding parties.
St Mary's, Great Dunmow, on the other hand, can accommodate up to 250 people easily and has a choir and wedding bells available. Even though it can accommodate a large wedding, smaller numbers of guests do not feel overwhelmed by the size of the building.
So, what do we do next?
All wedding bookings are taken by the Vicar - Canon David Ainge - so contact him to make an appointment for you both to meet him and discuss the possibilities for your wedding.
The whole process will be explained when we first meet you. As we said earlier, the clergy are ready at all times to answer any specific questions you may have. We would prefer you to contact us, rather than spend weeks fretting over a detail or two.
To contact the clergy
|
Vicar: Rev. Canon David Ainge The Vicarage, The Charters, Great Dunmow, CM6 2SJ |
01371 872504 |
| Rev. Philip Tarris | 07896 595398 |
Both can be contacted via email using the Contact Us page.
So what's it all going to cost?
To some extent, the costs you will have to pay are dependent on what you want us to supply, and how many people it takes to supply it. Here is the current Table of Fees. The costs normally increase a little on the 1st January!
| 2010 Table of Fees | Cost (£) | |
| Statutory Fees | ||
| Banns of Marriage | 34.00 | |
| Marriage Service | 262.00 | 296.00 |
| Local Costs | ||
| Use of St Mary's or St Andrew's Church | 100.00 | |
| Organist | 75.00 | |
| Choir (If requested & available) | 100.00 | |
| Bells (If requested & available) | 115.00 | 390.00 |
| Total (if you want everything) | 686.00 |
PLEASE NOTE:
Additional accompanying fees, if necessary, are available on request.
The cost of additional Heating (November to March incl.) is £75.00